St. Charles North heads to PepsiCo finalLagioia's late score gives North Stars 2-1 win over Streamwood

By Mike Garofola

STREAMWOOD — Vito Lagioia's cool finish sent St. Charles North to victory and its second consecutive appearance in a PepsiCo Showdown final, after the North Stars defeated Streamwood 2-1 Thursday afternoon at Millennium Field.

It was Matthew Beaulieu who combined brilliantly with his teammate Lagioia - sweeping the ball from the near flag to his ever-opportunistic teammate, who finished at the back post for the game-winner in the 70th minute.

"I couldn't be happier for Vito to score the winner because he's a great kid, and teammate, and one of those kids who works hard, gives a hundred and ten percent and never complains, and those are the players you always cheer for," North coach Eric Willson said.

Willson’s club will face Waukegan on Sunday after the Bulldogs upset top seed Morton to reach the final. Last season, North (8-1-1) lost to Morton 2-1 in the title game.

"This was a great win for us," said an elated Lagioia, who made his imprint on this semifinal just two minutes after being brought on by Willson to hopefully give his club a spark.

"You always have to trust Matthew when he crosses the ball, and that's exactly what I did on that goal,” Lagioia said.

The affable senior outworked the Streamwood defender in order to redirect his memorable attempt, finding enough space at the post to sneak past and start a mini-celebration on the Sabres’ (8-3-0) home turf.

The North Stars celebrated even more when the final whistle ended this 80-minute thriller.

"It was a terrific game. What can I say — it’s not the result that we hoped for but Eric has a very good team, and to be honest, I really feel that they will win it all on Sunday," Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said.

"You've got to credit St Charles for the way they defend as a team. It's impressive how they do it with an almost at-all-cost attitude, and even though we had a lot of the possession, they made it difficult for us to be at our best in the final third."

Beaulieu, along with his midfield mates and North forward Jake Persenico, were the fulcrum of the North Stars’ play. The group manufactured both of its team’s goals and played with an intelligence, purpose and incisiveness that was vital to producing this result.

"We knew that Streamwood was a very technical team, with a lot of individual talent in its attack, so it was important that we not back down in our own end for 80 minutes, and that's what our defense did all day, with our midfield doing its best at the same time," said Beaulieu, who was a major factor all throughout on the outside with his pace, defense, and defense-breaking distribution and runs.

The junior was named Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match for his efforts.

"It was a back-and-forth game and with a team like Streamwood, a lot could happen if you allow it," Willson said, "so it was important to rely on each other in unity and to pick each other up when it was needed, and I thought the guys did a great job doing that today."

It was clear from the onset the Sabres would own the higher percentage of the possession just because of the way they play, and the home side didn't disappoint in that department.

However, it was also clear the Sabres would need to pay attention to the North Stars’ outside mids, in addition to how many 50-50 balls were won in the middle of the park, and in the back, where the center-back duo of Kyle Kolodziej and Peter Willis dominated the air war.

"They were big and strong guys in the back, and we kept unsuccessfully testing their strength (instead of being a little selfish) and just taking guys on, or getting some quick shots off to try and make something happen," offered Polovin.

There were plenty of half chances throughout a goal-less opening period, with the best coming when the half neared the half-hour mark.

That's when Persenico went wide after a lovely build-up initiated by five different touches by his teammates, and then came a mesmerizing left-to-right run and carry from Bernard Elegbede that ended when Sabres keeper, Daniel Dominguez was called into action in the 31st minute.

There was more urgency and pace from the North Stars after the intermission, and it was apparent during the first five minutes of the second period that North was on its front foot, while the Sabres were on their heels.

North delivered a blistering attack from the whistle with Persenico forcing a save, as did Elegbede, after being set up by a wonderful back post helper from Joey Sommer.

Elegbede had a chance to split the Sabres open along the back and link up with Persenico on the tail-end of his center channel run, but the pass from the junior did not have enough pace to do so.

Persenico put the finishing touches on a magnificent effort when he calmly collected a brilliant pass from Beaulieu, and then patiently held the ball before finding just enough space to go past Dominguez with a sublime touch.

"We needed to be like that when we got in close," Polovin said.

The 47th-minute goal stunned the home side, which struggled to regain its form during the next five minutes, befor a tactical move of playing three central midfielders — Jorge Bracamontes, Oscar Chavez and Bryan Mora — inspired the Sabres’ attack.

More energy and a greater work rate from the Sabres appeared to be all Polovin’s men needed to get themselves back into the game.

One shot on frame from Chavez and consecutive freekicks would eventually produce the equalizer at 55 minutes.

A nice run by Michael Rubio saw the junior mid fouled, and when Jesus Limon sent a ball into the mix it spilled free to the edge of the box, where freshman Jose Ibarra drove a return shot back in.

Once there, it was redirected past helpless Stars keeper Piercarlo Ricossa, who wasn't able to get a glove on the shot.

"We didn't get to that loose ball as we should have, so it was a tough one to concede, but there was plenty of time still left. The boys kept their heads and just went after putting another into the back of the net," Willson said.

The Sabres had the same idea and with their confidence soaring, the final 25 minutes before time proved to be a soccer thrill-ride for the big crowd.

Chavez in particular would take over for the Sabres, trying his luck with a freekick that went just wide of an open net. He followed that by running onto an early ball before launching a well-aimed shot on frame that Ricossa saved.

Gabe D'Amico helped the North Stars avert disaster when on a retrieving mission, he helped Ricossa parry a dangerous one-two combination by Carlos Gonzalez and Gregorio Esteves.

Lagioia then became an instant hero minutes later, ensuring victory as his teammates did their best to manage their one-goal advantage, while the Sabres threw everything forward in the closing minutes.

"We played really well today, especially our backline, and it feels real good right now to come out of here with this win," Lagioia said.

"The guys in the back kept their shape and stayed organized very well, especially in the second half, while doing a good job of keeping just about everything in front of them," Willson said.

"There's a lot more soccer left in the season, so we won't put too much into this result. We lost to a very good opponent today," Polovin said.

"The toughest thing about today is that this was the last chance for our eleven seniors to get into the finals of the PepsiCo, so that is something that will stay with me for a while."